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Van Trip 2007
Day 2
Kilometres Travelled Today....170
Left Scone at 10:00am, beautiful crisp sunny day. Stopped at Murrurundi for petrol, a very nice looking town with what looked like a very interesting and tidy Caravan Park.
Arrived Gunnedah early afternoon and checked into the Top Tourist Van Park, site 15 at $27.90 per night. Decided to go to our favourite Services Club for dinner, only to find the kitchen was closed for renovations. We were directed to the bowling club next door, which was quite good but does not have the atmosphere of the Services Club.
Gunnedah is situated amid the fertile black soil plains of the Namoi Valley, 440 km north-west of Sydney. The region's beauty is said to have inspired much of Dorothea Mackellar's poetry. The district has a booming wheat and cattle industry; a large wild koala population has led to the town being known as the "Koala Capital of the World".
Gunnedah and the surrounding areas were originally inhabited by Aborigines who spoke the Kamilaroi language. The area now occupied by the town was settled by European sheep farmers in 1833 or 1834. With settlement in the area focused on wool production, Gunnedah was initially known as "The Woolshed" until taking its name from the local Indigenous people who called themselves the Gunn-e-darr, the most famous of whom was Cumbo Gunnerah.
Dorothea Mackellar wrote her famous poem My Country (popularly known as I Love a Sunburnt Country) about her family's farm near Gunnedah. This is remembered by the annual Dorothea Mackellar Poetry Awards for school students held in Gunnedah.
Coal was discovered on Black Jack Hill in 1877. By 1891, 6,000 tons of coal had been raised from shafts. The Gunnedah Colliery Company was registered in May 1899 and by 22 June a private railway some 5.7 kilometres in length had been completed from the railway station to their mine. In September 1957, the Government Railway took over the working of the line.
In early 2012 Gunnedah experienced a mining boom resulting in rental properties being leased by mining companies for up to $1,350 per week.
Day 3 in Gunnedah
We awoke this morning to find that the temperature had dropped to minus 5 degrees overnight, the electric blankets saved the night. It turned out to be a beautiful sunny day, but very cold.
Out of the blue we received a call from our friends David & Cindy Bell, from Thornleigh in Sydney, on their way to Gunnedah. We were both surprised and delighted to receive their call. We had travelled with them "up the centre" in 2007.
They arrived in the park late afternoon and we had a very pleasant happy hour together. It was great to catch up.
Day 4 in Gunnedah
We toured the town and surrounding district with David & Cindy. Went to the Porcupine Lookout with beautiful views over the Town and Liverpool Plains. Another sunny but cool day. Decided to extend our stay for another night. and enjoyed another happy hour with David & Cindy.
Day 5 in Gunnedah
Can't help ourselves, when we enjoy a van park as much as this one we find it hard to leave, we came for 1 night and stayed 4, however, reluctantly, we are off to Goondiwindi tomorrow. David & Cindy left yesterday heading for Moree and the hot springs.
Kilometres Travelled Today....170
Left Scone at 10:00am, beautiful crisp sunny day. Stopped at Murrurundi for petrol, a very nice looking town with what looked like a very interesting and tidy Caravan Park.
Arrived Gunnedah early afternoon and checked into the Top Tourist Van Park, site 15 at $27.90 per night. Decided to go to our favourite Services Club for dinner, only to find the kitchen was closed for renovations. We were directed to the bowling club next door, which was quite good but does not have the atmosphere of the Services Club.
Gunnedah is situated amid the fertile black soil plains of the Namoi Valley, 440 km north-west of Sydney. The region's beauty is said to have inspired much of Dorothea Mackellar's poetry. The district has a booming wheat and cattle industry; a large wild koala population has led to the town being known as the "Koala Capital of the World".
Gunnedah and the surrounding areas were originally inhabited by Aborigines who spoke the Kamilaroi language. The area now occupied by the town was settled by European sheep farmers in 1833 or 1834. With settlement in the area focused on wool production, Gunnedah was initially known as "The Woolshed" until taking its name from the local Indigenous people who called themselves the Gunn-e-darr, the most famous of whom was Cumbo Gunnerah.
Dorothea Mackellar wrote her famous poem My Country (popularly known as I Love a Sunburnt Country) about her family's farm near Gunnedah. This is remembered by the annual Dorothea Mackellar Poetry Awards for school students held in Gunnedah.
Coal was discovered on Black Jack Hill in 1877. By 1891, 6,000 tons of coal had been raised from shafts. The Gunnedah Colliery Company was registered in May 1899 and by 22 June a private railway some 5.7 kilometres in length had been completed from the railway station to their mine. In September 1957, the Government Railway took over the working of the line.
In early 2012 Gunnedah experienced a mining boom resulting in rental properties being leased by mining companies for up to $1,350 per week.
Day 3 in Gunnedah
We awoke this morning to find that the temperature had dropped to minus 5 degrees overnight, the electric blankets saved the night. It turned out to be a beautiful sunny day, but very cold.
Out of the blue we received a call from our friends David & Cindy Bell, from Thornleigh in Sydney, on their way to Gunnedah. We were both surprised and delighted to receive their call. We had travelled with them "up the centre" in 2007.
They arrived in the park late afternoon and we had a very pleasant happy hour together. It was great to catch up.
Day 4 in Gunnedah
We toured the town and surrounding district with David & Cindy. Went to the Porcupine Lookout with beautiful views over the Town and Liverpool Plains. Another sunny but cool day. Decided to extend our stay for another night. and enjoyed another happy hour with David & Cindy.
Day 5 in Gunnedah
Can't help ourselves, when we enjoy a van park as much as this one we find it hard to leave, we came for 1 night and stayed 4, however, reluctantly, we are off to Goondiwindi tomorrow. David & Cindy left yesterday heading for Moree and the hot springs.
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Denis Howlett David spilled diesel on his shoes whilst filling his car from a container